Vincent must Die
by Archtitan
Summary: Vincent Valentine is a man who was used as an experiment for Shinra, he's now their top assassin. He's killed many people, and unfortunately for him a select few want him dead for that precise reason.
1. Enter The Soldier

A:N First as a warning I will tell that this story is an alternate universe Fanfiction but some of the stuff that happened in the original game I have decided to put in here. I tried to do the best I could with this but it's only my second fic so please R/R and tell me what you think of it.

Winter season has descended upon Midgar, snow 3 feet deep covered the streets, frost smeared the windows of the Shinra building making the outside look misty and white. On the 13th floor in the cafeteria, cloud sat at his usual table staring at the white scene outside, beside him his hyperactive friend Zack, and one of Zack's old friends Reno.

The two were talking animatedly about god only knows what, he only half-listened to their conversation as he poked at his food not really having much of an appetite today.

Of course he could only blame said loss of appetite on the dream he'd woken up from this morning, he'd seen _him_ again in the dream. He had relived that day all over again, and now _he_ was all Cloud could think about. Twelve years ago he'd vowed not to rest until that bastard was dead and now he wasn't quite sure he was getting anywhere with this secret mission of his. The only reason he'd joined S.O.L.D.I.E.R in the first place was so he would be prepared to face his enemy, but after all this time was that resolve really as strong as it had been that fateful day?

"Hey Cloud!"

Cloud's head jerked up at the sound of his name being called.

"What's wrong with you today?" His friend Zack asked.

"Nothing." He replied softly.

Zack knew the blond was a soft spoken person but today he was being just plain odd, Zack had expected him to say something about how silly he was, in fact he'd told Reno to talk about something he knew the uptight blond warrior would most definitely not approve of. But it seemed his plan had failed miserably.

"You sure?" He asked him again.

"Yeah." He said back, his reply seemed somewhat sullen.

"Aww, Come on cheer up short stuff." Cloud glared at Zack, it was the thirteenth time he'd called him by that nickname, his friend smiled in return to his glare knowing that the nickname infuriated him.

"Zack is right Cloud cheer up." said Reno. "The president Rufus Shinra says he's got a real treat for you guys today."

"I find it hard to believe they would have anything remotely interesting that would cheer me up."

"You shouldn't be so quick to think so, you guys get to personally meet the great General Sephiroth." Reno announced proudly.

Cloud raised an eyebrow at Reno suspiciously.

"Bullshit, there's no way." Zack said incredulously.

"Uh-uh its true, I'm am most definitely not kidding this time."

"Oh awesome!" Zack shouted jumping up and down like a small child who'd gotten the present they wanted for christmas.

Cloud knew just exactly how crazy his friend was about the general, he had any and every kind of information of that man something that puzzled his roommates as well as cloud.

Most people who knew Zack knew about his hyperactive fits, so not many people in the cafeteria were phased by this display of childishness, unfortunately Reno decided to spoil the moment for Zack.

"After training today of course."

Zack immediately stop bouncing after Reno said that, his face now gloomy with disappointment.

"Aww, man you gotta be kidding."

Cloud lowered his face to hide a growing grin, I wonder what he'll be like this General Sephiroth.

Cloud had heard many stories about him, about how great, powerful, and strong he was; and to tell the truth after entering SOLDIER the general had been another reason for him to succeed in this. He felt a strange desire to surpass him, to be better than he was.

Some had said he was crazy and even Zack had said that he may as well give up while he was ahead but that didn't deter him, if anything it made his desire stronger, made him work harder.

He wouldn't give up, on finding his enemy and destroying him, or on surpassing Sephiroth.

————————————————————————————

A young woman trudged knee-deep through the snow, the bottom of her pink dress and matching coat partially damp from walking so long; she saw a white crystalline landscape before her. Hills that had once been covered with green grass now replaced with mountains of snow, the place seemed to go on forever and any normal person going through here would probably think they were lost.

However Aerith Gainsborough was not, she knew exactly where she was going and she had a guide in case she did get lost.

Nanaki was his name, though he preferred Red XIII, he was one of the many experiments made by Shinra, Red XIII hadn't told her much so she didn't know anything other than that but she felt content that he trusted her enough to tell her something about his past.

"Are we still going the right way?" She asked him.

He lowered his head and stiffed the ground.

"Yeah the scent is getting stronger so it should be close." The red dog replied.

He had a heightened sense of smell, even in the snow he could pick up the trail.

They kept the pace and soon they arrived at a small village almost completely covered in snow, the houses were old and run down.

At the entrance there was an odd circle of flowers, daisies, the delicate flowers had somehow survived the harsh conditions of winter. The circle went around the entire village, but the oddest thing was that it was the only place they grew.

To Red XIII this seemed more like a ruin than a village, but he followed her nonetheless towards the middle of the village where a tall statue made of alabaster stone stood on a metal platform tall and erect for all to see.

It was a statue of a woman dressed in a kimono, her hands clasped together against her chest, her eyes looking towards the sky, toward heaven. It looked almost as if she had been praying for the village itself but her prayer had not been answered from the looks of it.

Aerith walked up to the statue and dropped to her knees in front of it and began to pray much like the statue.

The statue started to glow, the young stone woman was bathed in an ethereal glow so bright that made it hard for Red XIII to look at her for fear of going blind, so he turned away content with just listening for now.

Aerith also turned away her face out of respect, the man that had told her about this place said she was not to look at the ancient directly in the face.

After a few silent moments the statue spoke to her.

"Why have you come here dear child?"

The voice that spoke was kind and slow echoing with each word, like a trickle of water rolling off a rock washing over Aerith as she listened.

"There is a man, I believe you know him. His hands bear the blood of many innocent people as well as evil ones, I feel that he should not be condemned to purgatory for what he has done so I have come here to redeem his soul."

She finished nervously, She knew what she was asking was a lot but her strong belief kept her from faltering.

"You must know Aerith that this man will cause much destruction should you fail to do this, and the only other sure way is even worse."

"I-I understand that it is very dangerous, and I have knowledge of the consequences but I believe in him. I know that somewhere in his heart there is good and I'm willing to do whatever it takes to bring that out."

She paused for a moment, she could feel the doubt in the woman's heart.

The woman sighed in defeat, the statue began to move out of the original position stepping from the platform that it normally stood on. Both Red XIII and Aerith had to keep themselves from looking up at her, curious to see what she would do.

The woman placed one stone hand on Aerith's forehead as she whispered an ancient spell with words that Aerith didn't comprehend; suddenly a vision passed before her eyes. She saw so many things so many unfamiliar faces, but it was until she saw the last bits of the vision that she gasped in horror at the image that passed before her.

Red XIII turned to her in concern, his fear only grew as he saw she was shaking violently.

After a few moment she managed to calm herself; she looked back at him with a small smile spreading across her face to tell him she was fine but he wasn't convinced. He could still see the fear in those blue eyes.

The woman pulled away from Aerith and resumed her position a top the platform.

"Now the wheels of fate have been turned Aerith, there will be no turning back for you or your comrade after you leave this place. You may choose to rescind my gift but you will forget all that you have seen. If your intent is true Aerith he will be saved, never doubt yourself and be safe my child."

The glow surrounding the statue slowly ebbed away till there was no longer any light shining off the smooth surface.

Aerith looked up at the statue and stared, marveling at her beauty and grace.

"Are you all right Aerith?" She tore her eyes from the statue to look back at him.

"Yes don't worry about me." She replied.

She got up wavering slightly, Red XIII rushed to her side to help her but she waved him off telling him it was nothing to worry over.

They started to walk to the entrance of the village toward the circle of flowers.

"Are you sure you wanna do this?"

She walked up to the circle, there lay aside from the rest in the circle a small daisy, she bent down and plucked it from the ground holding it gently in her hand to give her courage.

She took a deep breath and stepped over the circle Red XIII following behind her.

He guessed that was her answer to his question, but he was still not so sure about this. What man, one who not only killed her parents but other people as well, had her going half way across the planet trying to save his soul? What could he possibly have done to deserve what she was doing for him?

From what Nanaki had heard from her so far this man did deserve purgatory.

And yet she still went on.

————————————————————————————

"Man Strife you're no pushover." Said Reno, Cloud shrugged his shoulders at the remark.

Reno had convinced their instructor to let him attend their training session, when he did he had challenged Cloud to a one-on-two fight with him and Zack. Zack of course tried to be on Cloud's team but he told the raven-haired man that he would only drag him down, saying that he could take Reno and Zack by himself.

He said he would even prove it, and they foolishly agreed; he had taken them both down within minutes.

"That's what you get for messing with me." Cloud replied, elbowing him in the side.

They were now headed for the auditorium on the 14th floor, their instructor had informed them after their session that the president of the company Rufus Shinra would be paying them a visit. The session had run long and they were almost late so they were told not to put away they're weapons until after the meeting was over.

Cloud had taken his buster sword and sheath wrapping the large sword around his back.

"How do you carry that thing around all day?" Reno asked him.

Cloud shrugged in response.

"Come on guys lets get a good table I want one close to the stage so I can see the General up close." Zack said excitedly.

When they entered the auditorium however there were hundreds of SOLDIER's all bustling around to get seated.

"Yeah you and about 70 other guys." Cloud stated sarcastically.

But Zack was determined to get a table close to where the general would be standing, he looked around and spotted one last free table in the front but it was only a matter of time before someone claimed it.

'Not on my watch.' Zack told himself.

"Reno! Give me a boost." The red head put his hands together and Zack slid his foot in-between them.

"Okay, 1-2-3!" He shouted jumping up into the air, at the same time that Reno pushed him up giving him extra momentum. He twirled in the air, years of experience had made him very good at jumping big distances with a little help that is, before his feet landed on the table with a loud crash.

"LISTEN UP! This table belongs to me and me only, with the exception of my friends that is, no one may come near here because I wanna see the general up close. You got that!" He shouted to his fellow SOLDIER's, they ignored his outburst and went about finding seats, Cloud however gawked at him in surprise.

Reno chuckled softly 'Same old Zack.' He grabbed Cloud's arm and dragged him towards the table.

"You'll do anything to get what you want, won't you Zack?" The raven-haired warrior smiled and nodded.

After getting over the initial shock of what Zack did Cloud took the time to thoroughly chew him out about being silly and causing a big fuss over a stupid table.

Zack smiled all the while as Cloud berated him over his actions, when Cloud looked at him to see him smiling at him he asked him why but Zack did nothing but shrug his shoulders.

"Whatever." The blond said rolling his eyes.

The lights dimmed in the cafeteria, and the stages lights flickered to life. Rude walked in from the left side of the stage stopping at a chair that was situated in the center clad in a black suit and shades.

"Well guys there's my cue, gotta get to work."

"See ya around Reno." Zack said sadly.

"Aw, don't think you can get me with that puppy face of yours," He said using his fist to ruffle Zack's hair before turning to Cloud, the blond raised an eyebrow. "I'll see you around too hot stuff."

Cloud rolled his eyes as he watched the red-head walk toward the stage to join the other man.

He had to admit he was impressed. He didn't think a friend of Zack could have the discipline nor attention-span to stand there for what could be countless hours.

He didn't ponder this for long, in walked another man wearing a white business suit with three men following him.

Two of them wearing black suits, much like Reno and Rude, and the third wearing a blue shirt tucked into Grey slacks and a long white coat much like that of a scientist or a doctor.

Cloud guessed that the man wearing the white suit must've been the president the way they followed behind him.

He stepped onto the stage and up to the podium, the two men that had been following him assumed positions beside the man wearing the white coat, while Reno and the other man stepped up beside the podium, as the president began his speech.

"It's a pleasure to meet so many of you today, My name is Rufus Shinra for those of you who don't know who I am.

I've come today to present to you a new training program for you all, one that far precedes those you originally went through during your first few years here. Now I know that some of you may be a little uneasy about the thought of this but I've also come here with results that this new program does work and without side effects like mako injections. Here to present to you the results is Shinra's Head of Research and Development and also it's top scientist, please welcome Dr. Hojo." Everyone in the auditorium burst into applause, even Zack.

Cloud sat in his seat completely still, a look of shock covered his normally cool features.

'Hojo? But isn't that--' He said inwardly.

Hojo stepped up to the podium, waving down the applause.

"Thank you very much, I feel honored. I want to introduce to you one of our top SOLDIER's, he is one success I'm am particularly proud of, you've probably heard of him. I'd like to introduce General Sephiroth."   
Sephiroth walked in, his long silver hair flowing swiftly behind him an around his pale face, mako green eyes glowed with an emotion Cloud could not place. His face was blank showing neither happiness nor anger, his blade masemune lay in its sheath at his side.

Those in the auditorium were too busy in awe of seeing the great General face-to-face that they forgot to clap for him as he entered.

Cloud sighed, he really didn't want to but he started clapping, the general stopped in his tracks to look at him with an expression somewhat akin to that of surprise. All eyes in the auditorium in fact were trained on the blond man, but he only clapped louder, after several seconds Zack joined in as well. Then Reno started to clap as well, the other man next to him looked at Reno, and Reno shrugged his shoulders since he didn't understand why he was doing it either.

Rude rolled his eyes and began to clap, after that whole auditorium was clapping even louder than they did for the president or Hojo. With a few whistles thrown in, mostly from Zack.

The general walked up onto the stage and sat down in the chair they had provided for him, he didn't seem all that phased at the scene that had just occurred.

Hojo cleared his throat to stop the clapping, and reluctantly they quieted down.

Cloud looked away, concentrating on the wall as he wasn't very interested in what the short man had to say.

"Thank you. Next I would like to introduce to you someone who passed this particular training with flying colors, he has proved himself a worthy asset to Shinra, and is a project I take great pride in. May I introduce to you Vincent Valentine."

Cloud looked up abuptly towards the stage, the man Dr. Hojo had mentioned came walking towards the stage dressed in black his red cape billowing behind him.

The collar of the cape covered his mouth to a degree, but cloud didn't need to see his whole face, he remembered clearly that midnight black hair, those cold red eyes, and his pale soulless face.

The whole place burst yet again into applause.

"Doesn't he look cool Cloud? Well not as cool as General Sephiroth but--" Zack turned to see his friend's balled into a fist on the table, his whole body was shaking. "Cloud what is it, what's wrong?" Zack asked his friend.

He was really concerned now, Cloud had been acting strange all day and now..

He wasn't sure what made him rise from his seat, or what made him take out his buster blade and walk toward the stage.

"Cloud?!" Zack called out to him but he kept walking.

It felt like he was in a trance, all he could think about was that day 12 yrs ago.

He'd come home an hour early because his teacher called in sick, and as he walked up the steps to his house he saw Vincent coming out of the house, with a gun in his hand.

He stepped onto the stage dragging his buster blade with him, the large weapon had begun to glow a soft blue hue.

"Excuse me but you have to sit down so that I can finish my presentation." Hojo said impatiently.

It all went by so quick, before the sensible side of Cloud could reason with him his anger had already commanded his actions. He lifted his sword and a bright light erupted from the edge.

"Cloud stop, don't do this!" Zack shouted to him.

But it was too late. With a swift slash the light left the sword, forming into a ball of condensed energy, hurtling fast toward Vincent.

Reno and Rude grabbed hold of the president and got him out of the blast range, but the force of the attack threw all three men against the back wall of the stage knocking them all unconscious.

Dr. Hojo however was fortunate as well, Elena pushed him off the stage before the blast landed on the stage both of them falling hard to the floor.

Vincent was able to dodge the attack and landed smoothly on the roughened surface of the stage.

The tremors from the shockwave had caused the floor of the stage to crack, many of the pieces of marble floor were sunken in while other had meshed one another making it look like twisted jigsaw puzzle.

Dr. Hojo pushed Elena roughly aside standing to face the blond boy, keeping a safe distance in case he tried to do an attack like before. "Have you lost your mind?!"

Indeed Cloud did look somewhat crazy; his eyes had glossed over and deep within the blue orbs was a blank, cold expresson. But his face held a look of pure loathing and hatred.

"Just what's your problem?" His deep voice rumbled.

His question only served to make cloud angrier, and he tried to attack him again this time head on.

Vincent dodged it, and Cloud's sword ended up hitting the floor of the stage destroying more of the marble floor. Yet again the shockwave emanating from the attack pushed against him but he regained his footing in time to dodge another stiking blow from the angry blond and again it narrowly missed.

'This boy is powerful.' He'd never met anyone save for Sephiroth who's very aura could harm a person.

"I'll ask you again, what the hell is your problem?" This time Cloud answered him.

"You really don't remember do you? Well I do, I can't forget!"

"Just what are you rambling on about?" Vincent asked him harshly, he was growing tired of this game.

He swung his sword again, this time Vincent retaliated by pulling out his gun and shooting at him; the shots were blocked by Cloud using his buster sword as a shield.

He aimed a blow at his head but the gunman proved too fast and he ended only getting the sash on his head. He watched the red sash fall to the floor, Vincent's black bangs fell obscuring his face.

But those eyes, he could still see those blood red orbs staring at him with a mixture of annoyance and confusion.

He landed on the floor, his sword in front of him in case Vincent tried to shoot him again.

"Maybe I can jog your memory, my name is Cloud Strife and I used to live in a small village in Nibelheim."

He paused before going on.

"I was coming home from school that day and when I came home I saw you walking out of the house with a gun in your hand so I hid. When you left I went inside and there she was… sprawled out on the kitchen floor with a bullet in her head."

Cloud struggled to get the words out, his throat had become constricted and his mouth had gone dry. The memory of seeing his mother like that, it took all his will not to shed a tear.

But he wouldn't cry in front of him.

Cloud looked at the gunman, absolute hatred shining clear through his blue eyes, he raised his sword to him a blue-green glow surrounded it, like fire.

He was preparing to deliver a much more powerful blow this time.

"I'll make you pay for what you did to her, no matter what it takes I will kill you Vincent Valentine."

Cloud lunged at him, and the gunman flipped out of the way to avoid his strike but cloud pursued him still. He came too quickly for Vincent to dodge and he sliced his arm, creating a shallow cut that stung painfully, but Vincent showed no sign of it.

He struck again this time aiming for his chest, Vincent whistled and his cape went over him like a barrier making him unable to see the gunman; cloud went after him but he seemed much faster than before. He managed to run him to a wall but the gunman ran up it jumping off when gravity started to push him down.

Cloud jumped into the air to slice at him and made a direct hit, only to find that the cape was empty.

'What the hell?'

"Distraction tactic." Cloud heard someone say below him, he looked down to see Vincent still on the floor his gun poised to shoot, he pulled the trigger but Cloud knocked the shot away with his blade again landing on the floor

"You're pretty stubborn, aren't you?" The gunman said.

"I won't die so easily." Cloud spat back.

He charged at Vincent and jumped into the air, his sword glowed yet again as he prepared to give a devastating blow. Vincent aimed his gun yet again this time trying for his head.

"Cloud lookout!"

Cloud turned at the sound of Zack shouting his name, he saw a turk not 5 ft. from him was pointing a gun at him ready to shoot.

Zack ran towards Cloud climbing across tables as he went, he jumped up and grabbed Cloud just as Elena fired her gun.

"I'm sorry." Zack said.

"What?" Cloud replied confused.

Zack made a sharp gasp as the bullet hit him mid-back severing his spine, they both fell to the floor. Zack's body sagged against him, cloud held him shakily as tears began to fall down his cheeks.

"No, No please. Please no." He whispered the words over and over, but the same scene lay before him.

The pain threatened to overtake him but he couldn't let it, he had to get out of here had to get Zack out of here.

He stood, holding Zack up with his right arm, and gripping his sword firmly in his left hand.

"Don't move." Vincent warned him, Cloud glanced up at him pointing his gun at cloud.

He powered up his sword again, it seemed to glow even brighter than before so much it almost consumed his entire body.

"Try and stop me."

Vincent fired at him and he dodged the shots one grazed his cheek, Cloud turned tail and ran towards the windows of the building. He fired a blast that shattered the glass and the wall making the building shake with the force of it.

He ran up to one window and jumped out falling rapidly to the ground.

Vincent ran to the window Hojo following him, they watched him fall Hojo knowing full well the boy couldn't possibly survive once he hit the ground.

"Is he insane?" Hojo asked more to himself than Vincent.

"No," Hojo looked at him incredulously. "He's clever."

Hojo looked down at the scene, the blond, his sword in hand glowing brightly, stuck it into the building. The sword tore at the wall of the building, it wasn't strong enough to stop his sword from going through but strong enough to effectively slow him down. Once he neared the ground he pulled his legs to his chest and pushed off the building with is feet landing safely on the ground, he sheathed his sword and broke into a sprint heading north away from the building.

"Go after him." Hojo commanded the turks.

"There's no point. They won't stand a chance against him; he's obviously been trained to handle multiple enemies." Vincent said firmly.

"Then I guess it can't be helped then, I'll just have to send you."

————————————————————————————

Cloud knelt in the snow sobs shaking his body, he held Zack close to his chest his tears falling on his friends pale face. His body was numb from the cold but he didn't care; he was dead, his best friend was dead and all because he was trying to protect him. Just this morning he'd been laughing and talking with him and Reno and now--.

"I'm sorry Zack, I'm so sorry." He managed to choke out through sobs.

He recalled when Zack had told him to stop earlier but he hadn't listened, He should've and maybe if he did Zack wouldn't be dead right now.

Dead like his mother, if he'd just stayed with her that day she'd probably be alive too.

'_No use beating yourself up about it, there's nothing you can do now._' the rational part of his mind told him.

'But it's my fault.' He said inwardly.

'_It doesn't matter who's fault it is because it's done, and you have to keep on going. Don't forget he's still alive.' _

In a strange way that made him feel a bit better, but the ache in his heart didn't go away. It was still there, like an old wound that had been reopened with no seeming chance of healing.

But still despite the pain he got up releasing Zack's body and laying him on the ground.

He started walking where he didn't know, but he hoped to get as far away from Midgar as possible; he'd have to come up with a new plan.

Now that the whole of SOLDIER _and_ Shinra knew the truth about him they'd definitely be looking for him, which made it harder for him to kill Vincent.

"Doesn't matter, I'll find a way." He said to himself.

'_Never forget Vincent Valentine must die, he'll pay for what he did._'

A:N Time is suspended in Final fantasy didn't you know that? Anyway end of the first chapter I hope you like it so far, and just so you know Vincent is not the bad guy here I love him too much to do that, he's more like the troubled hero in this situation.

This is alternate universe fic just to remind you I have changed a lot of the things that would've happened in the original game to fit my own story but I did not however change the characters personalities as you can see with Vincent. Please read and review I will update as soon as I can.


	2. Enter the Flower Girl

A young boy stood at the mouth of a labyrinth, the stone entrance of it had writing covering every inch in a language he didn't understand.

He wore red silk pajamas bottoms and a red silk shirt, the dark attire complementing his dark raven hair and pale skin.

His raven hair ruffled as the wind howled and rushed in towards the maze as if it was beckoning the young boy in.

His curiosity got the best of him overriding his fear of what would happen once he went inside; he took one step after the other entering the maze with great anticipation.

The walls of the maze were horribly twisted going everywhere at once and nowhere at all, and sometimes they were impossibly small and difficult for him to get through so he was forced to take another route.

Other times the halls were large making the passing through the labyrinth easier, after hours of walking he found himself right back where he was before at the beginning but there was no entrance, nothing but a wall where a door had once stood. No way for him to leave the demented place.

He sighed heavily sitting down on the ground and resting his head on the wall.

'No use wasting my energy.' the young boy thought with a grimace.

He turned his red eyes to the cloudy sky trying to find a worthy distraction till he could find the energy to find his way through the maze; his dark brows furrowed in confusion as the sky turned an even darker shade of gray and lightning began to light up in the sky and strike down into the maze.

He gasped as it struck the ground at least 10 ft. away from him, thunder booming loudly a few seconds later. Suddenly the idea of staying didn't sound so good.

The young boy stood shakily to his feet, his heart beating madly in his chest making it hard to breathe. He began taking the same path as he had before but it seemed that the maze had changed while he was sitting down. The places that had been small before were now extremely large.

He took a new path not knowing where it would take him, but curious to see why the maze had changed in the first place.

After walking for some time he entered an opening in the maze where there was nothing but green grass and trees oddly enough since this looked like the same place where the lightning had struck, vines had grown about the walls of the labyrinth and there were flowers everywhere.

The flowers seemed very familiar, yellow daisies.

The young boy plucked one from the ground and held it close, a small feeling of comfort in this strange place or so he thought.

He lifted his eyes and saw a woman laying on the ground in the center of this green garden, he walked closer and gasped in horror his red eyes widening in fear, the delicate daisy he'd been holding fell to the ground as a shocking realization hit him.

There lay a blond woman sprawled out on the ground, a gunshot wound to her head. She weakly tried to make out words but it was of no use, blood seeped continually out of her mouth like a fountain, the blood bubbled as it came when she tried to speak but still she could make no intelligible sound.

He felt something creep up his leg and looked down to see a vine trying to wrap around its way around him, he shook it off but more vines came towards him. One grasped his arm firmly making it hard for him to get away while another one grabbed his leg, he struggled to get away but it was in vain. Several more vines grabbed his waist and his hands, a couple more tied themselves around his other leg.

Soon he was trapped in the vines with no way out.

"_You killed them." _He heard a voice say.

He directed his gaze toward the garden but saw nothing but that woman and the vines, he groaned in frustration. First he was lost, then he was trapped and now this.

"_You killed them, you killed her!_" He gasped as the vines started to tighten painfully around his chest.

"_You killed them! You killed them!_" He finally understood, it was the vines that were talking to him.

Unfortunately he realized this a minute too late, soon another vine found its way to his neck closing off his air passage. Now he couldn't breath at all, no matter how much he struggled.

"_You killed her, and now we'll kill you._" The creature said menacingly squeezing even tighter.

The young boy could swear his eyes would pop from the pressure.

"No stop." He cried weakly.

But the vines would not listen to his plea, and his words only urged them on.

"NO!" He screamed.

————————————————————————————

"NO!" Vincent cried out, pulling his gun out on impulse.

The room slowly came into focus as he felt himself able to determine reality from nightmare.

He took a slow shaky breath and laid back down, staring up at the ceiling he brooded over the events of the dream. It had been just like the others but something had triggered this particular one to be different, that woman, she'd looked so much like--

The familiar whine of machinery caught the crimson eyed man's attention, he tilted his head slightly towards the dresser to the right of him.

There lay a medium-sized black box, on top were two small buttons one silver the other green; this machine served as a communication device between Vincent and Dr. Hojo. Vincent didn't talk to Hojo very much so the doctor was unable to know what the gunman was doing or when he left, at times he would leave without so much as leaving a message to where he was going so the doctor was forced to install the speaker in Vincent's room. Much to the man's protests. Vincent turned his head away from the machine and closed his eyes trying to block out the loud voice that boomed over the speaker.

"Vincent I need you down here right now!" Hojo shouted from the speaker. "It's very urgent so don't keep me waiting." Vincent snorted and ignored the doctor.

"Vincent are you listening to me!? Vincent!" Vincent was starting to get annoyed by the doctor.

"Vincent press the damn receiver button and answer!" Hojo shouted.

Crimson eyes opened slowly. "Vincent!"

Reaching for his gun he aimed at the speaker. "Vincent!!"

He pulled the trigger, the poor speaker receiving a smooth bullet in it's center cutting through the hard plastic covering, right into the batteries that powered it. The speaker exploded on the dresser pieces scattered everywhere rendering it completely useless. But Vincent didn't care, Hojo would probably replace it with another one and then he'd have to get rid of that one too.

He pulled away the covers, stood up, and walked over to his dresser. He opened the black cupboard to reveal several knives and guns, his most prized weapon, Cerberus, lay in the center. He instinctively chose the gun in the center, picking it up and slipping it in the holster on his hip.

He grabbed one other gun, three knives, and ammo. Upon picking up one box of ammo he saw the box had been covering a small flower, a yellow daisy. Despite being completely deprived of sunlight, soil, and water the flower seemed to be healthy, he pulled off the glove off his right hand and picked up the small flower. Having a strange need to see how it felt.

The stem of the flower was smooth but slightly prickly, he ran his thumb over the petals. 'They were soft as silk.' He thought in curiosity. He vaguely remembered someone with a flower just like this, a little girl.

Flashback

Vincent was leaning against a cobblestone wall, with his eyes closed in feigned sleep.

"Hey there." Crimson eyes popped open.

He turned to his right and saw a little girl, probably 8 or 9 yrs. Old, looking at him with a friendly smile and two flowers in her hand.

"My name's Aerith, what's your name?" She asked him.

"Don't have one." He replied in an uncaring manner, turning around to walk away. But the little girl was unfazed by his rude tone and followed after him.

"That's kinda sad mister, but if you don't mind I'd like to give you one. Is that okay?" She said sweetly.

"Yeah sure." He said, replying in the same nonchalant manner he had before.

"Great! Hmm, now what should your name be? It has to be something that matches you personality." She said, pursing her lips in silent thought.

She looked up at him, studying his form, his face; he held such an air of mystery.

He seemed cold at first, but on further inspection his eyes told her a different story, she saw such pain inside, when she had been staring at him before, her heart couldn't help but feel compassion for him.

He stopped walking and looked down at her, returning her inquisitive gaze. She copied his action and stopped as well but continued to stare at him, she looked so innocent.

She wore a short-sleeved white shirt under a pink dress, her long brown hair was tied into a bow making it fall behind her back, but here and there small tresses fell out of the bow and fell in front of her face. And lastly her eyes, blue like the sky on a sunny clear day.

"Shouldn't you be with your parents?" He asked her, snapping the small girl out of her reverie.

"Nope, my parents are at work. I'm supposed to be with my babysitter Kana, but she went off somewhere she told me to stay where I was but then I saw you and I followed." She explained it as if it was the simplest thing in the world, but he supposed that was the mind of a child.

To her it really was that simple.

He sighed heavily, this wasn't supposed to happen. His mission was to plant the bomb, and leave as soon as possible, now he was stuck with some kid.

"Look you should really get back to your babysitter; I'm sure by now she's very worried about you." Vincent was surprised when she returned his statement with a small chuckle which soon turned to a fit of laughter.

"Hahaha, oh it's alright mister," She replied, wiping the tears from her eyes that came from her laughing so much. "This has happened to me before, don't worry I can handle myself. Besides I can't leave till I give you a name."

"Look I really don't think..." He tried again to convince her to leave but yet again she intervened.

"I have a great idea! Why don't you be my babysitter?! At least until I give you a name then we can look for Kana together."

"I'm not really good with kids." He said, not liking her idea one bit.

"You don't have to, all you have to do is make sure I don't get hurt, make sure I don't eat bad stuff. And make sure I don't go with anyone you think is dangerous." Namely himself, he thought inwardly. "It's easy, like I said I can take care of myself."

He sighed again, "There's no stopping you when you make up your mind huh?" She shook her head no in reply.

"Fine. Just don't be any trouble okay, and only till you come up with a name." He said sternly, she nodded.

"Don't worry I already have a pretty good idea of what your name should be, but first let's get something to eat. It's lunchtime and I'm starving."

"This is going to be a long day." He grumbled, as she dragged him off to a nearby resturaunt.

End Flashback

Vincent furrowed his brows in frustration trying to remember more from that day, but failed. He tried harder, following through the events of when he'd first met the girl up till what little he could remember and one image flashed in his mind. A tall skyscraper exploding, from top to bottom large explosions covered each floor to the very top, the building sank to the ground. Each floor compounded on each other crushing any person that may have been alive after the explosion.

He clutched his head in pain as a powerful headache struck his temple, the pain was unbearable. He fell to the floor, digging the talons of his gauntlet into the floor clawing at the wood. He grinded his teeth together to keep from screaming, after awhile the pain subsided leaving a dull throb behind.

He panted in exhaustion, trying to calm his breathing down. The migraine had been so powerful he felt almost completely drained of energy. Why? Why couldn't he remember anything from that day?

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Cloud raced across the snowy white terrain on his bike paying little attention to anything around him. His mind was on one destination only: Nibelheim. Before leaving his hometown to join soldier, and get revenge for his mother he'd made a plan in case he failed to kill Vincent; no doubt the gunman would come looking for him and when he did Cloud would be prepared for him. He'd kill Vincent and get justice for all the people he'd lost to that bastard, his mother and Zack.

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Aerith panted heavily as she trekked through the snow. She had come ready to make her way to the village, but despite the many layers of clothing and the thick winter coat she had worn for the journey she was till freezing underneath. She tried not to show it hoping that her companion, Nanaki, wouldn't notice but unfortunately for her he did.

They had been walking for hours, and Nanaki was beginning to get worried for her being in such harsh weather.

"Perhaps we should stop and let you rest for a while Aerith." He said with concern in his voice.

"No it's fine, I'm okay let's keep going we're almost there anyway." She replied, trying to convince him with her cheery tone, and sweet smile. But he wasn't fooled for a minute.

"But even if we get out of this place, we still have to walk back to Nibelheim."

"I know but, he's running out of time Red. We both know that, and as tired as I am I won't stop till I save him." She said stubbornly.

Nanaki sighed in defeat. 'There really is no way to stop that woman once she's made up her mind.'

They kept walking through the snow till they reached a large stony rock wall that stretched for miles in either direction, the large structure was so tall it reached into the clouds seemingly barring their way any further. Any other traveler would have turned back and found themselves at the village once again, but Aerith knew exactly what to do.

"You ready Nanaki?" She asked the ancient.  
"Let's go." He replied. They walked towards the wall and passed through it back to where they had started before not knowing what surprise they would find on the other side.

Once Aerith walked through the wall, however, she saw a blond man on a motorcycle racing fast towards her.

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Cloud kept at the same fast speed as before, a small shimer of light shined bright through a small hole then spread out towards the sky and the ground disappearing as soon as it had come. He looked up at the sky, and behind himself wondering why the strange light had appeared. He shrugged passing the odd occurrence off as nothing and turned to look in front of him to see a woman and her dog in the place where the light had come.

He gasped in shock, hitting his brakes as fast as he could, he swung the motorcycle to the sidein an effort to slow it down. But he had been going too fast, he was going to hit her!

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A:N Well that's it for now I'll have the next chapter up soon don't you worry. Please Read/Review it helps me write faster.


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